CN recognized for General Excellence

MOUNT MAGAZINE — The Blytheville Courier News received 16 total awards — including first place for General Excellence — at Saturday's annual awards ceremony conducted by the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors.

The ceremony took place during the organization's annual meeting, held at The Lodge at Mount Magazine in Mount Magazine State Park.

The Courier News edged out the Searcy Daily Citizen for the top award, earning the General Excellence win for the fifth time in nine years.

Contest judges had high marks for the newspaper's news content.

"Blytheville felt like a good reflection and partner with the community," judges said. "Stories were written so that a non-local reader understood the consequences of the big news. There was a nice mix of commentary. Headlines are clear, with good specifics in a few."

In addition, the Courier News received five other first place awards. Last year's special edition, "Snapshots," which spotlighted the community's rich history, took first place in the Special Project/Community Service category. Judges praised the use of photos, as well as the project's use of new media.

Other first place nods went to Managing Editor Mark Brasfield, who took first in Sports Column for a piece on Blytheville basketball coach David Hixson, and first in Column-Lifestyles/Human Interest for a column about positive aspects of Blytheville.

Staff writer Donna Loyd Hilton took first place in Non-Traditional News Item for a tongue-in-cheek mock interview with "Tom Turkey."

And editor Andy Weld won first place in Graphics for a Blytheville timeline project, which appeared in the "Snapshots" special section.

Other award winners are as follows:

— Hilton and staff writer Rick Harris shared a second place win in Spot News Story for coverage of the fire and shooting at Ace Glass.

— Harris, Brasfield and former staff writer Christie Zolman won second place in News Coverage for stories about last year's Holiday Inn fire.

— Brasfield won second place in Beat Reporting for articles about Blytheville police officers' salaries.

— Hilton won second place in Education Reporting for an article about the decline in use of chalkboards in area schools.

— Brasfield won second place in Sports Story for an article about last year's playoff run by the Blytheville girls basketball team.

— Weld won second place for Page Design for a collection of editions.

— Harris won third place in Spot News Story for coverage of the Holiday Inn fire last year.

— Harris won third place in Spot News Photo for a photo of a burning home.

— Weld won third place in Column-Hard News for a piece critical of the YMCA for pulling out of Blytheville.

— Former staff writer Jenni Betts Deming won third place in Business Reporting for a feature story on crop dusters.

"I hope Blytheville citizens realize what a good job our news staff does on a day-to-day basis," noted Courier News publisher David Tennyson. "It's easy to take things for granted sometimes, but first place in General Excellence five years out of nine pretty much says it all to me."

The Courier News competes in Division I, which includes the state's small daily newspapers.

Also Saturday, Weld was elected as APME president for 2009-10. Weld replaces David Bailey of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Rick Fahr of the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway was elected the group's vice president.